Norges Bank Purchases New Stake in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM)

Norges Bank acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. (NASDAQ:SFM) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,126,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $143,113,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parametrica Management Ltd acquired a new position in Sprouts Farmers Market in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $211,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Sprouts Farmers Market by 53.6% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 5,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $656,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. boosted its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 32.3% during the 4th quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 43,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,579,000 after purchasing an additional 10,725 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in Sprouts Farmers Market by 106.4% during the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 47,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,055,000 after buying an additional 24,567 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE increased its position in Sprouts Farmers Market by 64.6% in the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 191,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,299,000 after buying an additional 75,051 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on SFM shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Sprouts Farmers Market from $185.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Northcoast Research raised Sprouts Farmers Market from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $185.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Sprouts Farmers Market from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Sprouts Farmers Market from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sprouts Farmers Market has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $167.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Sprouts Farmers Market

In related news, CMO Alisa Gmelich sold 445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.42, for a total value of $61,151.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief marketing officer now owns 4,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $609,595.12. This trade represents a 9.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Nicholas Konat sold 11,283 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.13, for a total transaction of $1,614,935.79. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 55,675 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,968,762.75. This trade represents a 16.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 94,784 shares of company stock valued at $13,231,786. Corporate insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Sprouts Farmers Market Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of SFM stock opened at $152.64 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $152.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.67. Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $61.61 and a fifty-two week high of $178.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01.

Sprouts Farmers Market (NASDAQ:SFM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.07. Sprouts Farmers Market had a net margin of 4.93% and a return on equity of 29.86%. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.96 billion. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Sprouts Farmers Market

Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the retailing of fresh, natural, and organic food products under the Sprouts brand in the United States. It offers perishable product categories, including fresh produce, meat and meat alternatives, seafood, deli, bakery, floral, and dairy and dairy alternatives; and non-perishable product categories, such as grocery, vitamins and supplements, bulk items, frozen foods, beer and wine, and natural health and body care.